Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Deaths from the Air

Bahraini police arrest Said Yousuf Almuhafda of the Bahrain Center of Human Rights on Friday

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2125 GMT: Egypt. About 1000 activists rallied in Cairo on Saturday demanding an end to brutality in Egyptian prisons and calling for a ban on torture in the new Constitution.

Aida Seif al-Dawla, of the El Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, told the crowd near the Ministry of Interior that the group has documented 150 cases of torture in the 100 days since President Mohamed Morsi took office in June.

"Oh martyrs rest in peace, the struggle continues," chanted the demonstrators, who hung posters showing the disfigured faces and bodies of torture victims.

The protest commemorated the death of Essam Atta, a young Egyptian whose family said he was tortured to death by authorities in October last year while held in Torah prison south of Cairo.

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Bahrain Feature: "Collective Punishment" on Al-Eker Village After Policeman Killed

Claimed footage from Bahrain State TV of Thursday night's explosion --- circled in red about two minutes into the video --- which killed one policeman and injured another

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It has been another tense day in the Kingdom.

Al-Eker village has been under a state of near-siege since late Thursday night after a policeman died there. Throughout Friday, there were reports of house raids, arrests and violence by security forces --- including shooting into properties --- while human rights defenders were prevented from entering Al-Eker by police. Today, citizens are reportedly still being prevented from entering or leaving the village.

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Bahrain, Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Ripping Up King Hamad, Taking Out Assad's Air Force

1932 GMT: Syria. With military progress largely stalled, the Syrian military is expanding their bombing campaign in Idlib - and the target is civilians. According to the AFP, at least 44 people were killed in airstrikes in Ma'arrat al Nouman. This video shows a bomb falling on Ma'arrat Harma (map), to the west of most of the fighting:

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army reportedly launched an all-out attack on the Wadi al Daif base, just east of Ma'arrat al Nouman, the largest base in the are, and one that the FSA has had surrounded for days:

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Bahrain Opinion: "This Campaign of Oppression is Not Going to Stop on Its Own"

Doctors Nader Diwani, Ali Alekri, and Mahmoud Asghar receive the verdict of an appeals court, 14 June 2012

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The time for the West to exert pressure on Bahrain is now. Not tomorrow. Not in a week. Not in a month and certainly not in a year. King Hamad's regime has consistently failed to uphold its lawful duties towards its citizens, trampling upon their rights repeatedly and without shame. It has promised reform only to quash those calling for reform. It has filled prisons with human rights activists whom it claims are agents of Iran, without presenting a shred of evidence that they are responsible for anything but the defense of people's internationally-recognised human rights.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus

Smoke this morning above Army Staff Headquarters in Damascus after two explosions

See also Syria 1st-Hand: The Insurgents' PR Quest for Ammunition in Aleppo
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "The Situation Has Gone from Bad to Worse"

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1820 GMT: Syria. In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi has upheld his initiative of a four-nation contact group --- Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran --- and declared, "The bloodshed in Syria and the humanitarian crisis that has unfolded, must be stopped."

A full English-language text of the speech has been posted.

1720 GMT: Syria. Back from a long break for a business meeting to find the official casualty figure for today's double bombing near Army Staff Headquarters is six dead –-- t four security guards and two suicide bombers --- and 14 wounded.

Security has been increased in the area of the explosions with roadblocks and checkpoints. A resident said, "Most of the people who work at governmental institutions could not go to work today."

Meanwhile, the Local Coordination Committees report one of the bloodiest days in the 18-month conflict, with 290 people killed by security forces. The 162 dead in Damascus and its suburbs include a claim of 107 people slain in a mass killing in al-Thiabieh. There are also 37 killed in Deir Ez Zor Province, 26 in Homs Province, and 25 in Daraa Province.

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Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Insurgents Attack Around Aleppo

Live Coverage has been re-titled and moved to the top of the homepage, "Double Explosion Hits Army Staff HQ in Damascus".

Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: The Renewed Battle in Aleppo

1919 GMT: Syria. According to Russian Vice Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Syrian President Bashar al Assad would step down if he lost an election:

French newspaper Le Figaro quoted Bogdanov as saying in an interview after meeting Syrian dissidents in Paris that the "regime is still solid" and supported by an important part of the population who feared those who could take his place.

"Assad told us himself. But I don't know how sincere he is," Bogdanov said. "But he clearly told us that if the people didn't want him, and if they chose a different leader in an election, he would go."

1608 GMT: Syria. The LCC's death toll has now reached 102:

67 martyrs were reported in Damascus and its Suburbs (including 36 who were field-executed in Tadamun, 17 martyrs were found in Zamalka, and 3 who were field-executed in Mouadamiyeh), 16 in Aleppo, 6 in Hama, 4 in Daraa, 4 in Idlib, 2 in Homs, 2 in Lattakia, and 1 in Deir Ezzor.

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Bahrain Live Coverage: Will High-Profile Activists Receive Court Verdicts Today?

Sunday night's rally in Bilad AlQadeem in support of political prisoners

See also Bahrain Opinion: You Can Imprison the 13 Activists. You Cannot Imprison Their Ideas.
Tuesday's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: At Least 250 Civilians Die on Monday

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1606 GMT: Zainab AlKhawaja's mother reports that her trial was adjourned again today, with a resumption on 10 September. Zainab is also in court tomorrow on separate charges.

The case of Ammar Ali Mansoor AlSawad (see 0535 GMT), along with 16 other boys accused of rioting and burning a police jeep, has been adjourned until 1 October.

1509 GMT: The BBC's Frank Gardner quotes a British minister as saying that the UK is "very disappointed" at today's verdict on the 13 political prisoners and has called for an urgent appeals process. This is a strong --- and rare --- public response from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, signaling a recognition that "reforms" in Bahrain are not going as its allies had planned.

UK Foreign Office Min says 'v disappointd at #Bahrain court upholding sentences vs 13 pol activists', calls for urgent appeals process. #FCO

— Frank Gardner (@FrankRGardner) September 4, 2012

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Bahrain Special: 9 Reasons Why The Regime Gave Human Rights Activist Nabeel Rajab a 3-Year Sentence

Nabeel Rajab leading a march in April 2012

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Whilst much of the Bahrain regime's ongoing repression is relatively free from international scrutiny, Thursday's sentencing of leading human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to three years --- on three separate charges of instigating and participating in "illegal gatherings" --- will not go unnoticed. In recent weeks, many international NGOs and even 19 members of the US Congress have called for the immediate release from detention of Rajab, who is also serving a three-month sentence for his messages on Twitter.

So why would the Bahraini regime, which has been desperately seeking to convince the international community that it is committed to reform, hand down the lengthy sentence, an act bound to create questions about its commitment?

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Syria (and Beyond): A Downed Jet Grabs the Headlines

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1940 GMT: Turkey. Insurgents of the PKK have released Hüseyin Aygün, an MP of the opposition Republican People's Party, whom they abducted on Sunday.

1900 GMT: Syria. The National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria has released a statement suggesting that the UN should facilitate another ceasefire in order to achieve peace and preserve what is left of the country:

The great sacrifices that the Syrian people has been able to balance out the power of the regime, but it is still far from achieving a victory because of the international balance of powers that refuses to see the victory of one side over the other. The stalemate makes the continuation of the violence merely a path to the destruction of the Syrian state, society and being.

In order to minimize the painful cost of the desired change, and to protect what can be protected from our country’s infrastructure and our national unity, we at the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, which is an active part of the Syrian popular movement against oppression and one of the main forces against violence and foreign intervention, propose the following:

First- That all armed parties, the regime at the forefront of them, have to agree to a temporary ceasefire to be implemented as soon as possible, hopefully before the beginning of the Eid al-Fitr holiday. All parties are to agree not to conduct any military operations and not to attempt any changes to the current situation on the ground.

Second- During the first week of the truce, both parties are to release their detainees, captives, prisoners, hostages and the kidnapped, and to cease all such actions from then on. All such actions from then be treated as a criminal offence, their perpetrators are to be punished by law.

Third- The two parties are to allow relief agencies to deliver food and medical aid, and they are also to facilitate the treatment of the wounded in public and private hospitals under the auspices of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

Fourth- If the parties concerned implement the earlier points, then the atmosphere for a political solution will be present. Negotiations are then to take place between members of the opposition and a delegation from the regime, the delegation is to have full negotiating authority and has to consist of members that have not been responsible for any bloodshed. The negotiators are to agree on a state of political transition with a definite period -one year- that is to prepare the country for a democratic, pluralistic parliamentary system.

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